Then, once a mother, she is always a mother—held disproportionately responsible for the emotional, material, and moral needs of those around her, in ways that extend well beyond being overtasked with the care of her own children. She is to be a mother to others too: a giver of succor and soothing, of nurture and love and attention. As we saw in the last chapter, she will be empowered to ask for such moral goods for her own sake comparatively seldom. And, as we’ll see in the next, if she has children with a male partner, then he will be under comparatively little pressure to perform his fair
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